Giants leave kicker Josh Brown home amid controversy; Robbie Gould on way to London
Frank Schwab
October 20, 2016
The New York Giants decided on Thursday to leave kicker Josh Brown at home instead of bringing him to London for their game Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams.
Given new details from recently released documents regarding Brown’s case, in which Brown admitted to domestic violence against his ex-wife Molly, the Giants decided Brown will not make the trip. The team said it will revisit the situation next week.
[Read Shalise Manza Young’s analysis of the missteps made by the Giants and the NFL in Brown’s domestic violence case.]
Here is the team’s full statement:
“Josh Brown will not travel with the team to London.
“In light of the news reports regarding the documents released by the State of Washington yesterday, we think it makes sense to review this newly disclosed information and to revisit this issue following our trip to London.
“The Giants do not condone or excuse any form of domestic violence. Josh has acknowledged that he has issues in his life and has been working on these issues through therapy and counseling for a long period of time.
“We remain supportive of Josh and his efforts.”
On WFAN Radio shortly after that announcement, co-owner John Mara said Brown had admitted to abusing his wife.
“He admitted to us he’d abused his wife in the past,” Mara said, according to Albert Breer of The MMQB. “What’s a little unclear is the extent of that.”
Despite the new information, the Giants didn’t immediately cut Brown. Mara said on WFAN it’s “too early to tell” what Brown’s future is with the team.
The Giants said they did not know about the latest information before Thursday. The King County (Wash.) Sheriff’s Office would not release to the NFL or anyone else before this week. Brown admitted to domestic violence in a letter and emails that were part of evidence in the case. Brown was suspended just one game by the NFL for a domestic violence case. The league is re-opening its investigation into the case.
Free-agent kicker Robbie Gould is flying to London, via multiple sources, and is expected to handle the Giants’ kicking duties. Gould was cut following training camp after a decade with the Chicago Bears. He was 7-of-9 on field-goal attempts 50 yards and longer and is considered one of the better clutch kickers over the past several seasons. The Giants have yet to make any transactions official regarding Brown or Gould.
The Giants would have received heavy criticism had Brown kicked in Sunday’s game at London. The Giants have publicly spoken out against domestic violence, but have been surprisingly soft on Brown until Thursday. It is odd that in the statement the Giants would unnecessarily include the last line about being supportive of Brown.
The Giants say they’ll revisit the issue when they get back from London. Needless to say, the controversy isn’t going away.
As Thoreau wrote, “The question is not what you look at, but what you see.”
